[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "One Jungle Night: A Vanishing" by Leo Hill.]
5 out of 5 stars
One Jungle Night: A Vanishing by Leo Hill contains three distinct but intertwined stories, which are One Jungle Night: A Vanishing, Dragon Rider: A Haunting, and The Sixty-ninth Floor: A Reckoning.
The book follows four remarkable people who have known the same loss and grief. Each gets caught in a dangerous situation and involved in a world of crime, backstabbing, and treachery. But then, the seemingly impossible happens, leaving everyone stunned and questioning just how far love goes.
The stories in this book are brief, but the author gives the reader the whole experience of crime, thriller, and mystery in these short stories. Each story starts in the present and spans less than a day. The most admirable feature of this book is that the author creates a backstory for each short story, revealing the past events without completely taking the reader away from the present or adding unnecessary scenes to the stories. In the same way, he gives hints about what the future holds for each character. The reader can see how each one handles grief and traumatic experiences. This is my favorite thing about the book.
The pacing is fast. Each story starts in the middle of a scene and picks up from there immediately, maintaining the same fast pace till the end. It gives the book a thrilling feel. The author packs so much activity into each short story without overwhelming the reader.
Only a few of the characters had any actual development in the book, but the ones who developed significantly impacted the book. Their resilience and bravery were palpable, and their emotions were vivid. In the case of the four cousins, you could feel their love for their uncle, how it drove them, and the mixed feelings of pain and relief from their encounters with him. You could also feel the love reciprocated by the uncle even when no words were spoken.
The stories had so many surprising twists; no part was predictable. Nothing was what it seemed, and nobody was who they appeared to be. When it seemed I had wholly understood the st
ories, more revelations would come out. Eventually, I gave up trying to figure out what would happen because it was evident the author would keep surprising me.
The book appeared to be professionally edited. I enjoyed the book, and I found nothing to dislike about it. Therefore, I’d rate it
5 out of 5 stars
and recommend it to lovers of thriller, crime, and mystery short stories.
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One Jungle Night: A Vanishing